A Night to Remember
by Alcoholic Dinosaur
Summary: April 14, 1912: RMS Titanic sinks on it's maiden voyage across the Atlantic. Fast forward 97 years, April 14, 2009. Nav and Buffer enjoy and evening aboard Hammersley, but it will soon turn into "A Night to Remember" UPDATED 4/2/2014
1. Chapter 1

A Night to Remember

A/N: Might be a oneshot, not sure if i'll add any more.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sea Patrol or the characters

April 14, 2009

2340 HRS

HMAS Hammersley

Arafura Sea

Nikki and Buffer sat in the Senior Sailor's Mess, halfway through a bowl of popcorn as "Titanic" played on the screen of Nikki's laptop.

"Idiots! You shoulda hit it head on! The stem woulda absorbed most of the impact!" Nikki yelled, frantically waving her hand at the screen. Buffer chuckled and pulled her back into her seat, watching as she leaned over and laid her head down on his shoulder. Leaning down slowly, he pressed a gentle kiss to her chestnut hair, slightly surprised when she didn't tense up. They sat there in silence, Nikki drifting off to sleep as the Titanic went down. Buffer stopped the movie, leaning back and pulling Nikki down flush against him, wrapping his arms around her.

Nikki mumbled something and rolled over in his grasp to lay her forehead on his chest. Kissing her forehead, he raised his leg up and whacked the light switch with his boot, plunging them into darkness.

April 15, 2009

0220 HRS

HMAS Hammersley

Arafura Sea

Buffer snapped awake to the smell of smoke, Raising up, Nikki's grip on him tightened as Buffer watched a thin stream of smoke come in under the door.

"Fire fire fire! Main deck fire alarm, Alpha party form up! CO to the bridge at the rush! Muster boat deck, muster boat deck!" Bomber's frantic voice came over the PA system. Buffer gently shook Nav awake, a startled gasp escaping her lips as her green eyes snapped open.

"Buff?"

"Get up, Hammersley's on fire. We need to get out of here." He said, walking over to the door and pressing his hand to it. Easing it open, he saw the odd orange glow that the flames gave off as a flicker of fire crept up the corridor. The ship gave a horrible moan as metal in some part of the ship expanded. A burnt hand suddenly appeared, gripping the door frame before going slack. Nikki let out a scream as Buffer traced the hand to it's owner, the burnt form of their CO, a surprised look frozen on his face.

Buffer pulled her against him, shielding her eyes as they stumbled out into the smoke filled corridor. Nikki started coughing violently, covering her mouth with the sleeve of her camo shirt. He pushed her towards the bridge as he rolled his sleeves down and covered his face with his hand. They reached the bottom of the stairs as a giant explosion rumbled deep within the ship.

"X…" Nikki whispered as the ship lurched forward, able to tell the explosion happened near the cabin she shared with the blonde, figuring she probably didn't have a chance to get out.

"That was the forward ammo locker! We don't have much time left!" Buffer yelled, shoving her up the stairs and onto the bridge. Bomber and RO looked up as they entered, a sigh of relief escaping Bomber's lips.

"Nav, your highest ranking officer present, your call." RO said, managing, albeit barely, to keep his calm facde in place. They continued shoving official documents into watertight bags, Bomber watching as Nikki walked over to a bridge window and gazed out at the crew assembled on the boat deck as flames leapt from an open hatch.

"Abandon ship." She mumbled, taking Buffer's hand and gripping it tightly.

"All hands, abandon ship! I repeat, all hands abandon ship!" Bomber said into the PA mic as RO glanced at his watch and jotted something down in the ship's log before shoving it into a watertight bag.

"Mayday, mayday, this is HMAS Hammersley, we are on fire and abandoning ship." Nikki heard RO say into the radio as she strapped on her green life jacket. Buffer slapped an EPIRB into RO's hand, Nikki clutching the other one close to her chest.

"You and Bomber head for the port RHIB. If you're the HRO on it, head for that island we passed earlier, bearing 1-6-4. If you're not HRO, tell whoever is. We'll meet up there. Let's go." Buffer said, ushering everyone to the stairs. Nikki stopped at the top and took one last glance at the bridge, flames bathing it in an eerie glow. Bomber, without thinking, opened the door without checking for heat, letting a fireball knock her and Nikki over, Nikki's head making a loud 'crack' on the stairs. Her eyes rolled back as Buffer leaned down and scooped her up, RO helping Bomber to her feet, balance wobbling.

"Go!" Buffer yelled, running as best he could with Nikki in his arms. Making it to the boat deck, they found the RIHBs just about to be lowered without them. Handing Nikki to Swain, Buffer jumped into the Starboard RHIB as RO and Spider helped Bomber into the port RHIB. 2Dads lay on a stretcher on the floor of Buffer's RHIB, the only one to make it out before the forward ammo locker exploded.

"Lower us!" Buffer yelled, the pins holding the RHIBs in place being took out and the small boats dropping to the sea. The drivers jammed the throttle forward and taking the two boats away from the _Hammersley _before stopping, the crew watching as a final, great explosion rumbled from the ship and blew it apart, sending pieces of shrapnel flying, some falling inches from the RHIBs.

"0234." Buffer whispered, noting the time as the broken hulk of _Hammersley_ slipped beneath the waves. Setting in silence for a few more minutes, the RHIBs started back up and began their trek to the island 12 miles away.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to everyone who viewed and especially to the two of you who reviewed. Woulda had this up yesterday if my laptop hadn't decided to stop working.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sea Patrol or the characters. (If i did, there'd be at least two movies by now lol.)

Amethyst2417 (not sure if i spelled your name right) This is for you.

April 15, 2009

0450 HRS

Deserted Island

Arafura Sea

Buffer carried Nav ashore, tide sloshing around his ankles as the 16 survivors of the Hammersley trundled ashore. Spider and Able Seaman Daniels pulled the RHIBs ashore as Buffer deposited Nav on a stretcher with Swain and walked over to where Charge was inventorying their gear. The sun was starting to peek over the horizon as Charge finished tallying all the stuff they had, looking over at Nav on the stretcher then over to Buffer.

"So, 5 med kits, food and water for 3 weeks, tents for all of us if we pair up, fire starters, flares , lanterns, and a couple of handguns with 6 boxes of ammo with extra clips, plus everyone as their survival knife." Charge said, watching as RO walked over.

"Electronic inventory. 3 EPIRB*s, 14 laptops, VHF radios on the RHIBs, and the handheld emergency. Small problem, though." RO said, putting his hands behind his back. Charge and Buffer looked at each other, then RO, waiting for him to continue.

"And…?" Charge said, waving his hand in a circle as an indicator to go on. RO whipped an EPIRB out of his back pocket, orange waterproof casing snapped off to reveal wires, or lack there of.

"Sabotaged. All of them. And someone took the transceivers from the VHFs on both RHIBs. Good news, the emergency radio still has one." RO said, pausing as a Able Seaman stumbled and fell from exhaustion, his foot landing on the emergency radio. "Had one." RO corrected. Buffer and Charge stared at RO dumbfounded.

"Which means the one on Hammersley probably didn't work. And it also brings up the possibility Hammersley was sabotaged." RO said, handing the EPIRB to Charge as Swain walked up.

"Nav's awake. And ticked. And wet. But mostly ticked." Swain said, not waiting for Buffer to reply as he turned and hustled over to the makeshift medical area where Bomber was trying to keep Nav down on the stretcher. Nav finally let a light punch fly into Bomber's elbow, collapsing it and ending the chef to the ground while Nikki yanked the IV out of her arm and got up, albeit wobbly, off the stretcher. She met the trio in mid stride, RO falling into formation behind her as Charge and Buffer flanked her on each side while Swain detoured to help Bomber.

"Report." She snapped, pulling the metal snaps on her DPNU camo shirt apart and letting the shirt flap in the breeze.

"We've got the supplies we need for a 3 week stay, but only enough sleeping bags for a few people. I figured we would hand them out by rank. And we figured you would want to have a tent for yourself, so we were going to ask around if someone would triple up in their tent." Charge said, watching as Nikki pulled the hair band out of her chestnut hair and raking her fingers through it, wincing as her fingers hit the wound on the back of her head from the stairs as she pulled her hair back into it's customary ponytail.

"Alright, but tell everyone not to get comfortable, we should only be here a few days." She said, look at RO as he popped into her vision in between her and Buffer.

"I don't think so, ma'am. All of our emergency radio equipment was sabotaged. Or crushed. But mostly sabotaged. And no one was smart enough to grab a SAT phone." RO said, slapping an EPIRB into her hand for her to examine it.

"Which brings up the theory that the fire on Hammersley...wasn't an accident." Nikki mumbled, interrupting RO before he could say it.

"And whoever it was knew exactly everything we do when the ship is sinking." Buffer said, walking forward a few steps before turning and stopping in the trio's path. Buffer was about to say something when a scream echoed across the island, followed by words that made Nikki's blood chill.

"He's been murdered!"

*Nice little cliffhanger there, isn't it?

*******EPIRB = Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon **


End file.
